it's in the way my spirits lift whenever we talk
by ilarual
Summary: Love is in the air in Death City, but Jackie would really rather it wasn't, because being single and in love with your partner is bad enough without being smacked in the face with romance everywhere you go...


**A/N-** Yeahhhh... soooo... this was (as should be immediately obvious) intended to be a Valentine's Day fic. You know. To be published on Valentine's Day. One nasty case of writer's block and absolutely zero editing later, and here it finally is.

This is, technically speaking, a follow-up to Downslope. However, you need not have read that to know what's up with this fic.

* * *

Holidays were funny in Death City. In general they celebrated the same types of holidays that other people did, but in very different ways. Halloween was definitely the most enthusiastically celebrated, with the summer solstice coming in a close second, which was understandable given the unique subculture of the death children that populated the city. What was something of an unexpected surprise to newcomers, however, was how excited the entire population seemed to get over Valentine's Day.

It took Jackie awhile to understand it. They had celebrated St. Valentine's Day in Quebec, too, but never with quite as much public enthusiasm as Death City managed. It wasn't until a few years after Asura's defeat and the rise of a new shinigami that she finally thought she understood; in a city where Death himself held sway, honoring life was especially important, and what better way to do so than a holiday celebrating Love?

Whether she was right in that assessment or not was irrelevant, because the festivity would commence regardless of what she thought. The city was transformed practically the instant the calendar ticked over to February, the usually macabre alleyways and avenues of DC festooned with pink and white, and every public establishment sporting far more bunches of red roses and carnations than could possibly be healthy. Purported love potions were on sale in every pharmacy and apothecary in town, and the Saturday bazaar in the city center was suddenly overrun with florists, jewelers, and fortune-tellers eager to make bank on the lovelorn multitude.

It was one of the latter that Jackie found herself approaching on the morning of February 14th.

The woman Jackie had targeted was relatively young compared to the other tarot-touting men and women in the square, apparently in her late thirties, and of indeterminate ethnicity, possibly some variant of Latina. Her emerald skirts were spread out around her like the petals of a flower, and she gave Jackie a knowing smile as she ducked under her awning.

"Come for a reading, hon?" she asked.

Jackie bit her lip and nodded. "It might be a lost cause but-"

"But you figured you might as well try, right?"

"Something like that."

Jackie wasn't sure she really believed in the whole fortune-telling thing, but she'd certainly seen stranger things in her life so she supposed it couldn't hurt to keep an open mind. Kim was always telling her she made up her mind too quickly about things, people especially, that she needed to be more accepting of new ideas. Kim had a lot of little pearls of wisdom like that, some of which were more helpful than others.

Ah, Kim. The source of Jackie's current woes and the reason she was seeking supernatural advice in the first place.

She was in love with her meister. It had taken her a long time to recognize her feelings, because until she had fallen hard and fast for the pink-haired witch, she had always simply assumed she must be straight. Sure, she'd never really been attracted to a boy before, but she'd been very young and she'd just assumed she hadn't met the right boy yet. And then she'd met a sad, lonely young meister and that was that. Coming to terms with the fact that she _wasn't_ straight had taken some major readjustment of headspace, and it wasn't until she had accepted herself that she was able to accept her feelings for Kim.

Funny how she'd thought that would somehow be the easy part.

They'd been partners for years, and for just as long she'd been tripping all over herself just to try to keep Kim's attention. It didn't seem hopeless, because witches weren't as black and white about questions of sexuality and gender the way humans were, and sometimes it seemed like maybe- just maybe- Kim had some feelings for her, too… but Kim never seemed to focus for long. Every time Jackie had thought she was making progress, Kim would get distracted by some rich, handsome weapon and make Jackie fear not just for her romantic prospects but for her role as Kim's partner as well. Or she would take another ride on the Kim-and-Ox rollercoaster. Or she would discover that Soul Eater was secretly from an obscenely wealthy background and spend their entire stay at his family's ski cabin following him around like a puppy. You know, typical Kim stuff.

Yet now, Jackie was hopeful. Ever since she and Ox had called it quits for good over the holidays, she could swear she felt a shift in their partnership. Kim was more affectionate lately, and there had been something strange and new in their soul bond that Jackie couldn't interpret.

As optimistic as she felt, though, Jackie was scared to trust it. She'd thought she and Kim were becoming more than friends a few times before and always been wrong. And so here she was, kneeling down and settling awkwardly onto a cushion in front of a fortune-teller, hoping for the kind of clarity she couldn't seem to wring out of her friends.

"If a pretty girl like you is here alone on Valentine's Day, it must be love trouble, am I right?" the woman asked. Her voice was soft and musical.

Jackie nodded, a rueful grimace on her face. "That obvious, huh?"

She laughed lightly. "Well, I am a tarot-reader. I'm a little more intuitive than most. Now then, what's your trouble, dear? Afraid you won't find love?"

"Something like that."

"Or perhaps it's that you _have _found love, but the lucky boy hasn't realized how lucky he is, yet?"

_The lucky __**boy**__._

Jackie got to her feet quickly, floundering about in the mass of cushions the woman had spread under her awning before she found her feet. "This was a mistake," she blurted out. Then she turned and almost fled from the stall, regretting ever thinking she might get answers this way.

No psychic worth their salt would think that she was having _boy problems_.

She hightailed it out of the square, melancholy settling onto her shoulders. It wasn't that she _needed_ a romantic relationship, per se, because she didn't. It was just very depressing to walk the streets of Death City and see the entire population so enthusiastically celebrating love when she was so blatantly and perennially single… more so when she was desperately in love with the most amazing girl in the world and too cowardly to do anything about it. So maybe she didn't need romance (even if she wanted it) but she did need advice.

Jackie's first choices for someone to lend her an ear were both out. Tsugumi was her most long-standing confidante when it came to all things Kim-related and she was always supportive, but most of the NOT students were sitting their winter term exams that week and it wasn't worth interrupting her frantic studying... especially considering she would have to coach Meme through the tests. Sympathetic Tsubaki would have been her second choice, because she was possibly the best shoulder to cry on- so to speak- in the entire world. However, it was Valentine's Day and the shadow weapon's engagement to her meister was still fresh; Jackie didn't dare go within three blocks of their flat, because she was quite certain she didn't want to interrupt what was going on there today.

She decided, therefore, to head over to Gallows Manor. The Thompson sisters weren't the most romantically adept, but they were practical thinkers and very non-judgmental. She wasn't totally sure if they were aware she wasn't exactly heterosexual, but she felt confident that it wouldn't much matter to them, and considering Patti's habit of spouting off pearls of profound wisdom at the most random and unexpected moments, it might actually be worth stopping by to see them.

The Gallows were a good bit up the hill, close to the Academy at the crest of the city, no small hike. But the weather was balmy and Jackie didn't have anywhere in particular to be, so she didn't mind the walk.

As she mounted the graceful twin staircase, designed around a sculpted fountain like something one might find in Rome, that lead out of the square where the bazaar was held, Jackie couldn't help but feel a bit pathetic. Valentine's Day didn't _have_ to be a romantic holiday, after all. It was about celebrating all kinds of love. Friends and partners and siblings and parents and, yes, lovers were _all_ meant to be appreciated by the citizens of Death City on this particular day. Just because her love life wasn't working out the way she'd like didn't mean she couldn't spend the day with some of her single friends. Friendships were an important kind of love, too… and Jackie _knew_ that, but at the moment she couldn't bring herself to feel very enthusiastic about it.

Honestly, she probably wouldn't be in such a sorry state if Kim hadn't made it so agonizingly obvious that she had plans.

Most of January had been dedicated to getting over the emotional aftershocks of her breakup with Ox. Kim had been unusually affectionate during that time, and that was what had caused the unfortunate surge of optimism Jackie had been feeling. But apparently once she was really and truly over the spear-meister, Kim moved on fast, because she had all but shoved Jackie out the door that morning, insisting that she needed to "get ready" and that she shouldn't bother coming back until later.

It shouldn't be a shock. Kim had always been popular, even if her stand-offish attitude meant that her fan club of sorts had to be very discreet in their affections. Still, the fact that she'd found someone she was willing to spend her time with so quickly was surprising. It had taken Ox years to get the young witch to agree to be his girlfriend, and Kim was notoriously picky and snobbish about her dates, even once the factor of keeping her true identity a secret was out of the equation. Jackie wondered if her burning curiosity about who could have caught Kim's attention so quickly was a kind of masochism.

"Jacqueline?"

She had been watching the cobblestones beneath her feet without really seeing them, but at the sound of her name being called out in a sweet female voice, Jackie's head jerked up sharply. She looked around to find the source of the voice and her dark-eyed gaze quickly zeroed in on Miss Marie waving at her enthusiastically from further down the block.

Jackie grinned and quickened her pace to reach where the older woman was standing outside a cafe. As she got closer, she saw that she was pushing a stroller. Her young daughter, not quite three years old by now, was almost a perfect replica of Marie, with the exception of her eyes which were the same striking pale green shade as her father's. She was an adorable child, the darling of Shibusen, known to almost every student and staff member and loved by them all.

"Miss Marie, how are you?" Jackie asked once she had closed the gap between them.

"I'm wonderful," she said, beaming.

"And how's little Shelley today?" Jackie asked, bending down so that she was on eye level with the child.

Shelley looked up, fixed her large green eyes on the lantern with a gaze as unnervingly unblinking as her father's, and declared, "A full head of human hair is enough to support a weight of up to twelve metric tons."

Jackie blinked, and glanced up at her mother in confusion. Marie sighed and shook her head. "She enjoys watching the Discovery Channel," she said by way of explanation.

"Ah."

Marie reached down and ruffled the little girl's curly mop of sunshine hair, a soft smile on her face despite the way she rolled her eyes. Motherhood agreed with her.

"What brings you to this part of the city?" Jackie asked. "Isn't the lab on the other side of town? It seems like pretty far for a walk with her."

Marie's grin widened exponentially. "Actually, we're meeting Franken here now that he's done teaching for the day. You see, it's a celebration- he finally proposed this morning! Isn't that right, Shelley? Mommy and Daddy are finally getting married."

She held out a graceful hand for Jackie to see, and sure enough, a large gleaming pearl set in gold adorned the third finger. It was a lovely piece of jewelry, and Marie's obvious happiness was positively infectious. Jackie was happy for her former teacher for finally getting the last piece of the happily ever after she'd always wanted, but she couldn't quite stop the slight sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach as she cooed over the ring. Was it really so wrong of her to want to get _her_ happily ever after, too?

God, she was getting bitter, wasn't she?

"I wouldn't have thought Professor Stein would do something as romantic as proposing on Valentine's Day," Jackie observed, trying to swallow back her more selfish thoughts and plaster on a smile.

"Well, I always have liked to have a surprise or two up my sleeve."

The very professor in question emerged from the cafe Marie had been loitering outside, a smirk on his face, and Jackie was surprised to note that he had traded his stitched-up lab coat for a smart black jacket (which was, lamentably, equally stitched together). Marie beamed at him and pecked him on the cheek, to which Stein responded by assuming an expression that managed to somehow appear studiously indifferent and exceptionally pleased all at the same time. It was the kind of look that only Franken Stein could have successfully pulled off without simply appearing constipated.

Jackie kept up conversation with the couple as long as she could stand, but the small, gentle smile on the professor's face as he looked at his fiancée and daughter- a tender expression that would have been unthinkable to picture on the man's face even just a few years prior- put her out of sorts faster than she was proud to admit. She didn't like the sickly envy she felt, but she couldn't seem to squash the feeling.

She tried to excuse herself as gracefully as possible. "Well, you're obviously celebrating, so I shouldn't take up any more of your time."

Once her goodbyes were said and she had made a successful escape, she continued on her way. The two Shibusen teachers might have found nauseatingly cute love (in their own way), but she could at least rely on the residents of the Gallows to be perennially single!

* * *

Or not.

Technically speaking, Kid at least was still single, but he was off doing big important Lord Death things, because apparently a god's work didn't cease just because it happened to be a holiday. The other two permanent occupants of the mansion, however… not so much.

When Jackie arrived at the Gallows, she was greeted by Patti Thompson… and Ox Ford, of all people. The matching flushes on their faces, the fact that Ox's clothes were noticeably disheveled, and the mark that Jackie strongly suspected was not a sparring bruise on his neck made her quite sure that she hadn't interrupted a tutoring session, as he claimed.

The fact that they were no longer in school also had a little something to do with her suspicions.

"Is Liz around?" she asked, although she was pretty sure that given what her baby sister had been up to, Liz probably wasn't anywhere near the Gallows.

Patti shook her head. "Nope! Sissy had a date!"

Of _course_ she did. Every-damn-body on the planet was getting some for Valentine's Day except her.

"Oh yeah? With who?"

"Kilik, silly!"

Jackie had to stop and think about that one. "Wait, _really?_" she asked, incredulously. Their whole group had noticed an escalation in the casual flirting between the pistol and the utility meister starting around the time of their group vacation back in December, but she hadn't known it was more than that. Liz wasn't the type of girl Kilik usually went for, so she hadn't taken it seriously, but if they were going on _dates_ now…

Then again, apparently Patti and Ox, of all people, were a thing now. The world was just full of little romantic surprises. Joy.

"Wow, I didn't know they were together."

"I don't think Sissy does either," Patti said, leaning in and speaking in a conspiratorial sort of stage-whisper. "She really likes him but I don't think she's figured that out yet."

"Sounds familiar," Jackie muttered.

"Huh?" Patti blinked curiously at her with those huge, innocent eyes of her.

She shook her head, pasting on a grin. "Nothing, just thinking out loud."

"Do you wanna come in for soda?" Patti asked. "You know, since you came all the way over to visit?"

The invitation made her smile feel a little less forced, somehow. "Thanks, but I'll pass. You guys are, uh, studying, and I wouldn't want to interrupt."

Patti seemed to miss the unintentional tone of innuendo that had slipped into Jackie's statement, but if the way Ox abruptly flushed bright red and stared pointedly at his shoes was any indication, he certainly hadn't.

"Oh. Okay. Well, have fun tonight!" Patti said cheerfully.

"Wait, tonight? What-?"

But the door had already slammed in her face with no further ceremony.

"Bye, then," Jackie said to nobody in particular.

And so she was left with no other choice but to head home and pray that Kim had left for her date already and that she wouldn't have to see her depart. It was shaping up to be a wallowing kind of evening, the sort of Valentine's Day that single people around the world were painfully familiar with, and that was so pathetic-sounding she wanted to vomit.

In an attempt to make her walk home longer, and thereby decrease her chances of having to watch some handsome rich boy sweep Kim off her feet, she cut through one of the city parks.

This, as it transpired, as a mistake.

Not a mistake in the "I just heard the dentist say uh-oh" kind of way, more in the "guaranteed to make me feel worse than I already do" kind of way. Mostly because apparently she wasn't the only one who'd had the idea of going to the park on that particular day- she stumbled across Soul and Maka sitting at the base of one of the large oak trees that lined the path.

Maka was practically in her weapon's lap, her head against his chest, with his arm around her shoulders and his cheek resting against her hair. They both had content grins on their faces, and a wicker basket complete with red and white cloth in the most adorably cliche picnicware Jackie had ever seen sat on the grass beside them.

They had always had a very affectionate relationship for two people who were supposedly Just Friends, but ever since the nature of their partnership had changed around New Year's, they had gotten even more touchy-feely than usual. It wasn't in an excessive PDA way, thank god, but the looks they gave each other were adorable when you were feeling sappy, and sickening when you were feeling like a Valentine's version of the Grinch. And that was when other people were around. Based on current evidence, they were positively nauseating when they thought they were alone.

Jackie stepped off the path before she could interrupt their moment, because she might be feeling bitter but she wasn't a jerk who needed to ruin other peoples' fun just because she was grouchy. Peering around a tree trunk curiously, she watched as Soul made some comment she couldn't hear, causing Maka to laugh happily and smack him lightly on the chest in half-hearted rebuke. The scythe tightened his arms to pull her closer, and his partner kissed him sweetly on the cheek.

Jackie wasn't sure if she wanted to vomit or swoon. Maybe a little bit of both.

Remembering the scythe-meister's strong soul perception, she slipped away before Maka could sense her presence- not that it was likely, because the blonde looked a little bit too caught up in the moment to pay attention to anything short of Asura himself interrupting their picnic.

She was done with subjecting herself to the romantic good cheer that was literally all of Death City on the fourteenth of February. Kim or no Kim, she was going to go home right now and put on her favorite pair of sweatpants and eat the entire quart of Scooperman ice cream she had stashed in the freezer.

Once she crossed the park- a pretty speedy endeavor once she stopped staying on the meandering pathways and instead cut straight across the green- it was a very short walk back to the small apartment she and Kim had rented together after graduation. It was a nice little place, with walls they had painted a cheerful spring green and cheap furniture that had become a great deal more comfortable once Kim got her magic hands on them. But no matter how bright and comfy the place might be, Jackie knew it wasn't going to feel much like home when her partner was out wining and dining with god-only-knew-who.

She unlocked the door and stepped inside, dropping her keys in the bowl on the hall table and toeing off her shoes, sighing with relief that the hallway, at least, was dark. Hopefully that meant Kim was already gone.

When she turned the corner into the living room, however, she discovered otherwise. The space had been transformed into a veritable wonderland of twinkle lights, the dining table set with silver and lace and lit by long pink tapers. Something in the serving dishes on the table smelled amazing, but Jackie was far too distracted by her partner to pay attention to exactly what it was.

Kim was wearing a dress in a pale shade of turquoise that exactly matched her eyes, which Jackie had never seen her wear before, and the ends of her tomboyish hair cut were curled up attractively. She looked amazing, and the dream of her partner doing all this for her, contrasted with the reality that she was doing it for someone else, made Jackie's heart twist in the most agonizing way.

"O-oh," Jackie sputtered. "I… didn't realize you were having someone over. Sorry. I'll, um, go-"

"No!" Kim interrupted sharply. "This is for us!"

She abruptly flushed scarlet and glanced away, a slight pout lingering around her mouth.

Jackie cocked her head to the side, trying to assimilate this new information. "For… us?"

"Yeah, stupid. I said I was going to try to show my appreciation for you more, didn't I?"

She was doing that thing where she tried not to let on how much something really mattered to her, but her still-pink cheeks gave her away. Jackie found it simultaneously endearing and annoying, because Kim's blush was adorable, but she wanted nothing more than for her partner to be genuine with her. Although, based on this turn of events, maybe that wasn't such a distant possibility…

"Your big plans for tonight were for us?" she repeated, still having a hard time getting her head around that.

"Would you just sit down and eat?" Kim asked with a huff of exasperation. "Why is it such a big surprise that I would want to do something nice for you?"

Jackie hid a grin by biting her lip as she obeyed her meister's request to take up the seat she was indicating. "I feel so underdressed," she commented, indicating her casual wear. "You're all fancy tonight."

Kim smiled, and there was something shy about the expression that Jackie couldn't help but find adorable. "You're fine. You always look nice."

It was Jackie's turn to go pink and she glanced down at her plate to avoid her partner's eyes. She was confronted instead with a juicy cut of pork roast and a baked potato, which caused her to look up at Kim once more.

"How did you manage this?" she asked. "I don't mean to be rude, but… you can't cook to save your life."

"Honestly? I had the food catered and kept it warm with magic until you got here." Kim grinned sheepishly, gemstone eyes gleaming in the candlelight.

Jackie laughed. Typical Kim. She suddenly felt twenty pounds lighter, like the weight that had been sitting on her shoulders all afternoon had evaporated.

"Do you like it?" Kim asked shyly, pushing a bit of potato around her plate with her fork.

The lantern nodded. "I love it. I have to admit I'm a little confused, though."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "It's just… do witches even celebrate Valentine's Day?"

"Definitely."

"Hm. Well, I guess I'm just surprised because for humans it's usually… I mean, not that there's anything _wrong_ with this, because there's really not, celebrating your friends and partners is definitely okay, but it's just… among humans, Valentine's Day is usually more of a _romantic_ holiday. You know. For couples."

Kim's response was quiet but firm. "I know."

Jackie squinted her large dark eyes, peering at her partner in bafflement, because if she hadn't known better, she would have thought…

"Look, Jackie, the thing is… W-well, lately I've been feeling like…" Kim was a flustered, blushing mess, absolutely precious, and Jackie couldn't remember ever having seen her quite this nervous.

"What is it?"

"Lately I've been feeling like… maybewe'remorethanpartners." Kim stared down at her lap and the words tumbled out so quickly, Jackie almost missed them.

Almost.

"More than partners?"

"Yeah."

Jackie felt she surely must be dreaming, and pinched herself hard on the arm to check. Nope, definitely awake. She was awake, as far as she knew she hadn't accidentally wandered into some alternate reality, nor had Kim been hexed or brain damaged or body snatched… yet she had just said they were more than partners.

"I feel the same way," Jackie breathed, still half-convinced she must be hallucinating and would discover this was all false any minute.

Kim looked up at her sharply, expression elated. "Oh thank Death," she exclaimed. "Even with what Soul said, I was so worried that maybe you didn't!"

Jackie stilled. "What did Soul say?" she asked.

The witch clapped a hand over her mouth with a squeak. "Oh crap, I shouldn't have said that," she mumbled through her fingers.

"Kim, what-"

She huffed out a breath and took her hand away from her face to speak properly. "I promised I wouldn't tell you, but last week when we were all hanging out at Deathbucks, Soul said you had a crush on me. And I guess… well, I kind of thought maybe you did back when we first became partners, but you never did anything about it so I figured I must be wrong. But then Soul said he'd talked to you back when we were in Aspen, so I… well, I planned all this so that I could tell you."

Jackie sat silently for a few moments, absorbing all this. She'd suspected since their early days at the Academy that Soul Eater was a lot softer than he'd cop to, but this just confirmed it. Leave it to Soul to try and make sure nobody had to spend Valentine's Day alone.

Once she had assimilated the realization that her feelings weren't nearly as one-sided as she'd thought not even half an hour ago, she looked back at Kim, a tentative smile blooming on her face. "So… you really feel the same way, then?"

Kim nodded, still blushing that pretty shade of pink that almost matched her hair and fiddling with her silverware. "I think so. Or at least… I really want the chance to find out."

Jackie reached across the table to still her partner's nervous fiddling and take her hand in her own instead. "I'd like that very much," she said.

And the relieved look in her partner's eyes, the smile that spread across her face, was worth absolutely everything.

* * *

**A/N part deux-** This is far, far, _far_ from my best work. I've been struggling with awful writer's block due to a number of factors, most of them relating to the fact that it's February and February sucks, and so as a result this was A) written over the course of three weeks and B) mostly just pressed on through no matter how frustrating because I needed to finish it and get it off my plate. Also writing Jackie is hard, possibly (definitely) because she has excruciatingly little screen time even taking Soul Eater NOT into account. So you'll have to forgive this for its suckitude on that account.


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